When Hearts Collide
by GabrielRising
Summary: The war is over and the students are back for their last year of school, but nothing is as it once was. Everyone is dealing with the aftermath of Voldemort's horrendous doings and finding their own ways to cope. When some of his classmates turn to revenge, Harry must make a decision. Can he find healing by helping someone he once hated? HarryXDraco
1. Chapter 1 - Something needs to change

"What a blah day" thought Harry as he sighed and stretched out on top of his bed in the very familiar Griffindor dormitories.

It had only been about a week since the students returned for their 7th year of school, but with the war over, Harry found that he had too much free time to let his mind wander, and that usually wasn't very good for his health. He had a major tendency to worry and blame everything on himself, and that often took its toll on him. Things were so different now. Life seemed a lot quieter than it once had that's for sure and it was simply out of boredom that Harry decided to pull out the Maurauder's map. He figured there had to be something interesting enough on there that he could focus on to get his mind to chill out little.

Nothing seemed too thrilling at first, but then something up towards the top caught Harry's eye. There, in the third floor boy's lavatory was the little dot labeled Draco Malfoy, and he wasn't alone. He appeared to be amongst a group of other little dots with names for the most part Harry recognized as his own 7th year classmates with a few first and second years in the mix. Harry thought for a moment.

"The third floor is forbidden… I guess I can understand why Malfoy would be there, but why are all those other people with him…"

His thoughts trailed off as he noticed the positioning of the little circles. The little dots surrounded Draco's or more, they were on top of it.

"Uh-oh, this can't be good."

Harry's heart skipped a beat as he quickly put the cloaking charm back on the map before shoving it under his mattress and rushing out of the room.

By the time he reached the third floor he was at an all out sprint and panting hard from the combination of running and adrenaline. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He wasn't sure exactly when it happened, but he realized that he no longer hated Malfoy like he once did. He had a feeling though that even if he did, he would still be in the same place he was right now.

"This is just wrong. After all of the suffering, no one should have to endure this anymore. When is it going to end? Don't people realize that this is not going to change the past? If I can forgive him…"

Harry shook his head and tried to calm his nerves. He needed to hurry, and it wouldn't do him any good to get lost in his panic and end up doing something really stupid.

As he closed in on the door leading into the lavatory Harry could hear muffled yelling and cheering coming from inside. He noisily burst through the door alerting all of the members inside who froze instantly, believing it to be a professor or even worse, Filch.

Harry stood panting in the doorway, and arm braced on the frame for support and for a single moment the world stopped. Harry was not seeing the 7 or so pairs of wide eyes staring at him. All he saw in that moment was, behind the wall of students lying in a heap on the floor, a very pale, very beaten Draco Malfoy. Harry was even more startled when he noticed faint flickers of green floating around the unmoving body, remnants of a very powerful spell, a forbidden spell. Harry recognized the green hue instantly and he was instantly nauseous. He was far too intimately familiar with the death spell 'avadacadavra'. It lingered around Malfoy, as if it had been cast not on him, but around him, purposefully missing the target.

Something flared inside of him.

The world started back up again, but Harry could not pull his eyes from the sight before him. His paralysis was broken after one of the students, Dean Thomas to be exact, decided to speak up. Everyone had relaxed once they realized it was Harry and not someone else.

"Ah Harry." Dean grinned. "Come to join in on the fun have you?"

His eyes were not met by the friendly emerald ones he was used to seeing. Instead, Harry's eyes burned so fiercely into his that he gasped and took a step back.

"Get. Out." was all he said, but there was a murderous tone to those words.

No one had seen this side of Harry. Even Harry himself had only felt this intense anger and hatred once before in his life, and that was directed at the creature who murdered his parents.

Everyone was silent, the tension in the room rising to a suffocating degree. Harry took a step to the side, revealing the open doorway and repeated himself. He didn't know how much longer he could control the anger raging inside of him.

"I said. Get. Out."

Dean threw his hands up as a sign of truce. "Alright, alright mate, I dunno why you are so touchy, Its Draco Malfoy we are talking about here."

Some of the other students snickered. And Dean's grin returned.

"It's not like he didn't have this coming… from us or someone else. After everything he has done to everyone. He's always been a rich prat."

Dean looked around confidently at the nods of approvals that swept through the group. Harry stayed silent. Dean pointed at him.

"We all dealt with that. And YOU Harry, you got the worst of it. That's why I don't understand you mate. Okay, maybe I get it. It's not the Griffindor way to bully others, even if they have it coming, right? But maybe you've forgotten that the Malfoys were working side by side with Voldemort himself. I think that changes the game a little don't you?"

"Stop it Dean" Harry interjected only to be cut off.

"They were deatheaters Harry. HE was a death eater!"

Dean pointed in accusation to the youngest Malfoy that lay still and silent on the floor.

"He was a deatheater and he KILLED Dumbledore!"

Harry lunged at this comment and grabbed Dean by the collar of his shirt, bringing his classmate's face inches from his own. "Shut it Dean Thomas. You are hurt and you are angry, just like me, just like everyone else! You think hurting _him_ is going to make an ounce of difference?" Harry hissed. "If any of us have any chance of healing, we need to keep what happened in the past in the past."

Harry let go of the now trembling Dean whose cheeks were hot with anger and embarrassment.

"There is something else you should know." Dean was quiet but refused to look at him.

"Malfoy may have been a deatheater, but he was NOT the one who killed Dumbledore."

Dean looked up at him slowly with a look of disbelief on his face that quickly turned to a look of betrayal. He whispered under his breath before storming out the door but Harry had heard "as if that matters..."

The others followed quickly behind. There were tapping of shoes on tile, many confused whispers, and the slam of the door closing, followed by silence.

Taking a deep breath to brush off the heated confrontation and his own anger, Harry turned and walked hastily towards the quiet heap that was Malfoy, picking up scattered papers and Draco's dispelled wand along the way. He knelt next to the boy who was face down on the cold tile floor and softly whispered his name.

There was no response. For a moment Harry thought Malfoy was dead but he saw a faint rising and falling of his chest, indicating shallow breathing.

Harry, not wanting to scare the blonde, hesitated before gently laying a hand on his back, hoping for a reaction to make sure he was conscious. As soon as Harry's hand made contact he gasped and jerked it back as if he had been burned.

"Those bastards! How low! Putting a petrification curse so you had no chance of defending yourself!"

He fumbled, trying to reach for his wand to undo to curse. He lifted the curse and a small whimper of relief broke through the lips of the abused teen. This time Harry did not hesitate before laying a hand on the blonde's shoulder to assist him in sitting up, but due to the lack of the curse Malfoy was able to jerk away from the touch and frantically backup against the wall.

"Get away from me! Don't fucking touch me!" He screamed and batted wildly at Harry's hands when he tried to calm the boy down.

"Malfoy it's me, it's me Harry! I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. All those other guys are gone, you are safe now!"

Harry tried to keep his voice calm as best as he could, all the while trying to avoid the flailing limbs of the frantic teen. After getting slapped in the face twice, he managed to capture both wrists in a tight grip and seat himself on Malfoy's lap, knees on either side of the boy to prevent him from hurting himself and try to get him to calm down. It was an awkward position to say the least but it did get the blonde to stop flailing around.

Malfoy had no idea who was on top of him, for he had been in such a panic, such desperation to get those bastards away from him that nothing had gotten through to him, only that the petrification curse had been lifted and he could move. But, once again he was immobile. He didn't have the strength to fight back against those strong arms and he knew it, so he simply stopped struggling and just squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could and braced himself for what was next. He deserved this. He deserved to die didn't he?

But nothing came. No pain. No humiliation. He only heard a soft voice say his name.

"Draco…" Harry felt very odd calling his former rival by his first name, but he kind of liked it… or he thought he could get used to it.

"It's me Draco. It's Harry. I'm not going to hurt you."

The very frightened blond in front of him had his eyes squeezed shut and his body tense. Harry had no idea how he must feel right now, so helpless, so pathetic, so worthless. He was the great Draco Malfoy after all, yet here he was, beaten, alone, and probably feeling very much like he wanted to die.

Harry did not like this thought at all. He wasn't quite sure why he felt such a strong need to help this person whom he hated so much in the past, who insulted and threatened him and his friends numerous times, who had almost killed…

But he didn't. He couldn't. Maybe there was something more to him than Harry initially thought, in fact he knew there was. Had he always known it?

Gah! Harry shook his head once again trying to remain focused on the task at hand.

"Draco… please look at me." Harry begged in a whisper so low he himself could barely hear the words that came out of his mouth.

He wasn't expecting much by that point so was very surprised and relieved to see the blonde slowly, cautiously, open dull silver eyes and raise them to meet worried green ones.

"P-Potter?" The still very frightened teen questioned.

"Yes Dra—er, Malfoy, it's me. Are you alright?" Ugh, way to go Harry, look at him! Of course he's not alright!

Malfoy simply stared at him, surprise evident on his face. That didn't last long though before his defenses rose again and he scoffed.

"What? You want a piece of me too? Of course you do golden boy. I would have thought you would have been the first one to the party." he glared fiercely at Harry who stared right back into those eyes, a look of hurt across his face.

They sat there having a stare-off for the longest time, neither wanting to be the one to break the eye contact. Finally, Malfoy scoffed again, scowled and turned his head to the side.

"Is that seriously what you think of me?"

The strange question had him turning back to look into newly offended eyes.

Harry didn't know why he would be so hurt by that comment, but he was. They may have been enemies before, but he thought Malfoy at least thought a little better of him. He had saved him before, had he forgotten? He just stared into those… beautiful, he had to admit… eyes searching for some hint to what he was thinking.

The intense look he gave had the blonde losing confidence in his assessment. Harry isn't really like that, is he…?

Ugh! What am I thinking? I'm sure he wants me to die like everyone else here. But then why wasn't he doing anything, well… anything more than sitting on my lap and holding my wrists tightly in a death grip... He decided to speak up.

"Well then… what are you doing here?"

Harry was at a loss for words. He didn't want to tell Draco about the Marauders map and any explanation that came to mind about why he decided to intervene sounded awkward or unbelievable.

"I um- well… I uh- heard voices from the hallway and-"

"You just _happened_ to be walking around the third floor, and you just _happened_ to hear what was going on and burst in just in time… tch. You haven't changed at all Potter."

Malfoy rolled his eyes but cringed and cursed in pain. His right eye was pretty badly swollen and was turning multiple shades of purple and his lower lip had been split and was trickling blood.

Harry let go of the blonde's wrists and stood up, a look of concern on his face. The movement caused Malfoy's ruffled shift to fall open where a button had been ripped off, exposing more bruises and bleeding wounds. Harry caught sight of the injuries and frowned, unable to take his eyes away.

The bloodied boy quickly covered himself when he noticed staring green eyes, causing Harry to quickly turn around and curse himself. "I- I'm sorry for looking."

Malfoy watched the teen whose back now faced him and he could swear there was a hue to his cheeks… Why was Potter…. Harry…why was Harry doing this? He should be the one to hate me more than anyone.

He thought about the possibilities as he carefully stood up and buttoned up his shirt. It was a little slower going than he would have liked… he hadn't realize how badly he had been hurt. Once he had picked up his robe and put it back on Malfoy took a step forward and hissed in pain as his leg gave out underneath him.

Harry had heard and turned around quickly enough to catch the falling boy and lower him gently to the ground.

The blonde leaned against Harry, not having the strength to support himself any longer. God he hated himself and his pitiful existence.

Harry supported the weight of the boy against his chest and placed his hands softly on his back. He knew how hard it must be for Malfoy to be so vulnerable, having to lean on his own former enemy for support. But maybe it didn't have to be that way.

"Malfoy…" Harry started, but froze when he heard small sobs coming from the boy within his arms.

Harry didn't want to make a huge fuss about the other boy's very out of the ordinary behavior, it must have been hard enough as it was being so weak and having to rely on him. Now he had to endure the humiliation of crying in front of him.

Harry wanted more than anything to take as much of that sick feeling away from Malfoy as he possibly could. It wasn't about right or wrong anymore, Harry decided that no matter what he was going to protect this boy, though he would _never_ say it out loud. That would only make it worse for Malfoy. He didn't really know what he was doing, but Harry wanted to heal the sobbing form in his arms more than anything at that moment. Even if it was just in a desperate attempt to heal himself.

He closed his eyes and tentatively began rubbing gentle circles down the blonde's back. He gained some confidence when his touch was accepted and softly rested his head atop the others' in an attempt to create a small feeling of security.

The two sat in silence, except for the small sobs that racked through the broken blonde's body. Time passed, and eventually the sobs quieted, but neither moved, not wanting to break the spell that had them both in an almost contented trance.

Harry started to come back to reality and he forced his eyes open.

He remembered Malfoy's wounds and knew that the best place for him now would be the hospital wing. Reluctant to disturb the newly calmed boy Harry whispered softly into his ear.

"Malfoy…?"

"hmm…"

"We should get you to the hospital wing."

There was a long pause before something escaped the blonde's lips.

"Draco." He whispered barely audible.

"Huh?" Harry wasn't sure he had heard correctly.

The blonde sat back and silver eyes met green.

"You called me Draco before…. didn't you?" He asked almost dreamily, as if he was waking from a very long needed rest.

Harry looked away, hoping he wasn't blushing. Why the heck was he getting so flustered?

"I did… but I- I was trying to get you to respond so I thought-"

"Do it from now on."

It was a demand, but not a hostile one. Draco Malfoy was used to getting his way, and Harry knew that he would get his way this time too. He looked almost innocent right now, even after all that had happened.

Harry stood up and reached a hand down to aid the other in getting to his feet.

"Draco" He announced, wrapping the blonde's thin arm around his shoulder and embracing his waist so he could help support some of his weight.

"I believe our destination is the hospital wing."

Harry couldn't help but smile a little despite the disbelief he was feeling at the thought of the kind-of friendship the two were sharing. The smile was gone though when a frightening memory suddenly struck him.

"Draco. The death curse was used in that room. There were remnants of it surrounding you…."

The blonde let out a long breath. "You are very perceptive."

He paused a moment, and Harry thought he was probably deciding how much information he was willing to share.

"They came from behind and cast the petrification spell on me. That allowed them to use other spells… or curses without me fighting back. And they did. 'Avadacadavra' _was_ used… but it was never directly aimed at me. I don't doubt that they truly wanted to kill me, but fear is an incredible form of torture Potter. I'm sure _that_ was their intention."

Harry turned away, anger bubbling inside him once again. "I just can't believe what he was-"

"Whatever he was going to do, he didn't have the chance." Draco cut him off. "I guess I should thank you for that." He tilted his head slightly so he could force a small grin Harry's way.

Harry had worn many fake smiles in his life to brush off the miserable things that happened to him, and it made him incredibly sad to see Draco doing the same thing, because in that moment he knew there was nothing that could be said or done to ease the pain.

Harry took a deep breath and faced forward with a cool response.

"Nothing like that will happen to you again you know." He was very serious in making sure that he kept his statement true. He was going to protect Draco.

Said boy gave him a weird look but didn't say anything more about it.

The two continued through the castle in silence and finally limped their way into the hospital wing.


	2. Chapter 2 - A chance for both of us

"My goodness what in Merlin's name happened to you?"

Madam Pomfrey rushed over as soon as the two boys entered the Hospital Wing.

Harry watched as she grabbed Draco's face rather roughly, tilting it this way and that, examining his black eye and poking and prodding the rest of his body. He cringed and jumped and hissed but the woman was unfazed. Finally she took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Explain."

Draco remained silent and locked his eyes on the floor.

Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat and turned to face Harry with accusatory eyes.

Harry waved his hands wildly in front of himself in defense.

"It- it wasn't me professor, I swear."

"Well? Who was it then? I don't usually condone tattling, but this was no ordinary fist fight. I've practiced medical magic long enough to recognize injuries that have been caused by dark magic."

Neither of them opened their mouths and the school nurse eyed them both suspiciously before ordering Harry to bring Draco over and lay him on one of the beds. Harry was not about to say anything about what happened to Draco and risk breaking whatever trust he currently had in him so he stayed quiet.

"I need to at least know what happened, what spells were used in order to best assess your injuries Mr. Malfoy and give you the proper remedy."

Her tone was more motherly than malicious, but both boys knew from experience that she would find out the truth, using force if she had to.

Draco sat in bed and stared at his hands in his lap, clearly not wanting to admit that he was a victim of anything. The amount of pride that boy had never ceased to amaze Harry, but this time he didn't think it was pride so much as it was embarrassment, self-hatred, humiliation, fear maybe...

Harry didn't blame him, he would feel the exact same way had him and Draco switched places. Somehow though, he didn't think that Draco would have done the same for him.

Of course, he was starting to see Draco in a new light and the blonde had shown a little more trust in him than he thought he would have. There could maybe be a chance that Draco was feeling the same way, that he saw something in Harry now that he didn't before.

Madam Pomfrey repeated her question once more and made it clear that the healing process was going to be a lot more painful than it had to be if she was forced to guess what it was that happened.

Malfoy quivered a little at this idea and so did Harry. Madam Pomfrey could be very scary when she wanted to be.

Harry worried that Draco wouldn't say anything and would be in even more pain than he already was, and he couldn't say anything himself, it just wasn't his place.

Harry took a step closer to the bed and was about to give the boy a slight nudge but he was stopped by a quiet "crutiatus".

Draco never stopped looking at his hands and for a moment Madam Pomfrey didn't respond. Harry knew she had heard him though for her face turned to a look of disgust and then heartfelt understanding. She nodded as if those had been her original suspicions.

Draco hadn't mentioned that to Harry, but he had suspected as much. Something clearly had to have injured him since the death curse had only been used to terrify him.

Madam Pomfrey looked like she wanted to say something, but just then the phone started ringing. She stayed in place for a moment longer still eyeing the bruised boy sitting on the bed but then seemed satisfied enough with his response and went to answer the phone.

As soon as she was out of earshot Draco spoke.

"Why didn't you answer, tell her everything?"

He looked up into Harry's eyes and Harry couldn't read the expression on his face. He was confused. Had Draco really wanted him to say something? Didn't they establish a kind of trust up on the third floor?

"I…" He paused for a moment, thinking hard for an appropriate response. "I didn't know you wanted me to."

"Well I didn't." He responded a bit defensively. "I just… thought you would have."

Draco broke their gaze and went back to staring at his hands that were still locked tightly together in his lap.

Once again Harry found himself hurt by the lack of trust the other boy gave him. He needed to let him know that he really wasn't like that. He really wasn't going to do anything bad to him.

"It wasn't my place to say."

He looked at the blonde. "I honestly had no idea that you thought _this_ low of me. Even if you hate me you should know me better than that."

"Tch! Of course I don't trust you! We were enemies before weren't we? You probably feel the same about me!" He growled, almost desperately, trying to keep his voice low.

Harry was speechless for a moment but then he understood. Of course. They were enemies. They both should feel an equal lack of distrust in each other. That would explain why Draco was so frustrated with Harry's unexpected behavior. They both knew how to act towards each other when they were enemies. But for some reason Harry wasn't as frustrated with his new feelings about the blonde as he clearly was. Maybe it was because he knew that things were different now, for everyone, they always would be.

This new life was so hard at times, and in so many ways the past was better. But when it came to this moment right now and the boy sitting in front of him, Harry realized that he didn't want things to be like they were before. They were too hard, too painful. He wanted things to change, to be different, be better. Draco needed to know that things were no longer the same between them, they couldn't be. Not if they wanted any chance at finding peace.

The silence became almost unbearable before Harry spoke up.

"Actually, I don't feel the same about you."

He was surprised at how easily the words flowed from his mouth but he couldn't bring himself to face to blonde just yet.

"Maybe I did at one point… but things are different now. It doesn't matter what it was like in the past, because the past is gone. Now we all have to find ways to move on from it."

He slowly raised his eyes to meet Draco's unreadable ones, a new wave of determination washing over him.

"I don't want things to be like they used to. I think things between us should change."

The blonde was caught off guard by his response, and before he could compose himself there was a click and Madam Pomfrey bustled back to take Harry aside.

"The Headmistress wants to see you in her office."

Harry nodded and glanced over the nurse's shoulder into confused silver eyes. He made his way to the exit and turned once more to face those same confused eyes still staring at him. He laughed once to himself at the blonde's almost cute expression and then turned away to make his way to the Headmistress's office.

Once past the spinning owl statue and up the winding stairs, Harry was greeted by glittering green eyes and a warm smile.

* * *

"Hello Professor Mcgonagall" Harry greeted with his own smile.

After the war, Mcgonagall had been appointed the roll of Headmistress at Hogwarts. Harry used to think that that was the scariest thing in the world, but he realized that the death of the beloved former headmaster had taken its toll on her just as it had on everyone else which in turn created a much softer, much more understanding woman. Harry knew she was always worried that she would never be able to fill the magnificent shoes that Dumbledore fitted, but he had faith in her.

"It's a pleasure to see you Mr. Potter" She said cheerfully. "Please sit down." She motioned to the chair in front of her desk and took a sip of her tea.

Harry smiled thankfully at her and sat down. He was very content in that moment, but then remembered what had happened no more than an hour before. He frowned and dropped his gaze as he replayed the scenes in his head. He had to tell her about this, she had to know what was going on.

The headmistress noted the change in moods, but continued smiling and reached across the desk to offer Harry a lemon drop. She had called him up here for a reason after all.

Harry stared at the bowl of lemon candies in front of him but then looked past it into curious forest green eyes.

"Professor… I..."

"Do you know why I called you here Harry?"

He closed his mouth for a moment, thinking. Mcgonagall never called anyone to her office without a reason.

She gently placed the untouched candy bowl back into its original position.

"There is a student here who has been having a lot of… difficulties lately. I believe you are familiar with him." She paused, giving Harry a chance to respond.

He didn't say anything, just waited, so she continued.

"Mr. Malfoy."

Harry jumped at this as she thought he might.

"Yes! Professor, today he—well, I'm sorry I went to the third floor, you can punish me if you must, but if I hadn't found him when I did…"

"Harry..."

"….and it was students from my own house no less!"

"Harry."

"I don't know what to do… I don't care that he is a Slytherin! It's just not right, and I-"

"MR. POTTER!"

Harry froze and realized that he was no longer sitting in his chair, but standing up with his hands flat on the desk leaning very close to the surprisingly collected woman in front of him. He blushed and sat back down in his chair, folding his hands tightly together.

"S-sorry professor, I… got a little carried away." He looked down at his hands in his lap, much like Draco did in the hospital wing, expecting to get scolded for yelling in the Headmistress's face. He looked up again though when he heard not a lecture, but laughter.

She laughed softly to herself for a moment but then regained her composure. Harry saw what he thought was a peculiar twinkle in her eyes, much like Dumbledore often had when he was secretly planning something. She cleared her throat before speaking again.

"Yes, well, I am very aware of what happened to Mr. Malfoy."

Her tone became serious. "This cannot happen again. Though much worse could have been committed, this is a very serious crime and I fear things will not be getting any better for him. The war may be over, but Mr. Malfoy has more enemies now than ever."

"But he is innocent!"

Harry found himself worked up once more and had to grip the armrests of his chair to keep from jumping out of it again.

"That may be true, but there are many blind souls out there who don't really care either way. They are just simply looking for someone to take their pain out on."

"But HE is in pain too! Probably more so than any of them, they couldn't possibly understand! They couldn't…." Harry trailed off.

He couldn't continue he was so exhausted from being so frustrated. He wanted to do something, to make them know how Draco felt, or at least realize that he wasn't the one to blame.

"But you can."

Mcgonagall finished Harry's last thought and gave him an understanding smile when he looked up at her.

Now he was fighting back tears. He was just glad that Draco wasn't here to see him weak like this. Not after he promised himself that he was going to be strong.

Mcgonagall continued as if she knew what he was thinking.

"You don't always have to be strong Harry. Don't try to forget that you were hurt too. Both you and Mr. Malfoy have known hurt on such a deep level. A level most people never have and never will experience. This hurt is unimaginable unless it has been experienced personally. That is something that you and Mr. Malfoy now share."

"I just don't know what to do…" Harry pleaded through tear filled eyes. "It won't go away." He was now sobbing and covered his face with his hands.

The headmistress spoke softer now.

"Many never heal from this sort of pain Harry. I don't want to see you go through that. I don't want to see Mr. Malfoy go through that."

Harry took a deep breath and stopped his tears. "I don't… I don't want to see him go through that either. No one should have to go through that. I would know. Why am I having feelings like this about him? We hated each other before."

The headmistress smiled softly.

"Oh, I don't think you ever hated one another. I think your true feelings might be deciding to make themselves known now because of what the two of you went through. Pain that is so immense that is shared can form an everlasting connection between people. I think that connection might be the key to being able to heal."

Harry was very confused by what she said and he also had a newly formed headache.

"Now, I assure you Mr. Potter that the students who are responsible for Mr. Malfoy's injuries will be rightfully punished, but I still fear that there are many more out there who wish to do him harm. I hate to ask this of you, but I don't think Mr. Malfoy should go anywhere without an escort for a while… at least until his injuries are healed."

Harry sighed. He had a feeling where this was going. He was going to be Draco's designated babysitter.

"I have an idea, though I'm not sure how much you'll like it. Harry, would you mind terribly moving into a two-person dormitory?"

That caught him off guard.

"Two-person dormitory?"

"Yes, it is a very special dormitory that I myself have created. It isn't a part of any house, and is located away from the other house dormitories."

Ok. Harry was seriously confused. A dormitory that isn't a part of any house? What would the point of that be? When he didn't speak up the professor continued.

"The reason I ask, is because I think it might be best if you and Mr. Malfoy were separated from your previous dorm mates. That way you would always have a safe place you can go to."

"Professor?"

"In other words, I would like you two to room together."

That immediately shook off Harry's confusion.

"Room with Draco?! I'm sorry professor, but I seriously doubt that he would ever consider rooming with me."

The headmistress raised an eyebrow when Harry used Draco's first name and eyed him curiously.

"Even after what happened between you two today?"

She sat patiently, waiting for a response.

Harry had to think about that. He had stopped Draco from getting…. and Draco even cried in front of him. He supposed that would have NEVER happened in a million years before the war. And he had even told him to call him by his first name….

"Well, I guess-"

"Then it's settled."

Harry choked. "What?! I didn't agree-"

"On the second floor you will find a statue of a gargoyle with the face of an angel. The password is slugwort. Your belongings are being transferred as we speak and I will inform Mr. Malfoy of his new accommodations."

"But- I-he-" Harry was so mixed up he couldn't even form a coherent sentence.

"I'm sorry Harry, but I really must be going. I'm sure you will find your new dormitory to your liking. I will check up on you soon and see how things are going."

She smiled a big smile before bustling out of the office, leaving Harry standing alone trying to figure out what it was that just happened. He stood there for a good 3 minutes in silence before it hit him like a ton of bricks and Harry thought for sure he was going to pass out.

It was simple. He was going to be living with Draco Malfoy.


End file.
